Tufts University School of Medicine traces the origins of physician assistants (PA) in the United States to Duke University in 1967. Veterans who had served as medics in the Vietnam War returned home and wanted to put their medical training and experiences to work, and the position of physician assistant was born.
Tufts also notes that, today, a physician assistant generally needs a master's degree to practice professionally. Between navigating the educational gauntlet and gaining accreditation through the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, you must complete a long road in order to work professionally as a physician assistant.
As you complete your education, you will complete academic work, didactic learning, and clinical rotations. Each of these areas of education is typically necessary for you to earn your entry-level master's degree, as LECOM explains.
If you encounter any difficulty during your education as a physician assistant to-be, the Lento Law Firm can assist you. We help students in various medical fields when they have academic difficulty, face allegations of misconduct, or experience any other problem that jeopardizes their reputation, graduation, or goals.
Even if you are not facing suspension or dismissal, hiring Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento may be wise. Having to repeat coursework or accepting formal sanctions of any kind could have long-term consequences, and we'll work diligently to resolve the problem that you face.
Academic Performance Issues for Physician Assistant Students
The American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) explains that those who work as physician assistants need to:
- Obtain a qualifying undergraduate degree
- Obtain a Master's degree in Physician Assistant Studies
In some cases, physician assistants fast-track this timeline by enrolling in a pre-professional educational track. In any case, you'll have to complete at least four years of study—and likely several more—before you can enter the medical workforce as a PA.
Along the way, you may have difficulty grasping, applying, or retaining academic concepts. If you do have difficulties, you may face:
- Mandatory remediation of coursework (having to repeat a course or even a semester)
- Academic probation
- Suspension from your undergraduate or master's program
- Dismissal from your PA studies program
Any of these outcomes could prove devastating to your career prospects. Such blemishes on your academic record will affect how prospective employers view you and may cost you jobs, opportunities, and future earnings.
How the Lento Law Firm Can Help with Academic Performance Issues
Our firm will work within your program's policies to find an answer to your academic difficulties. At Michigan State University's Department of PA Medicine, students are expected to promptly schedule remediation for any coursework they fail and face a potential incomplete grade if they don't successfully remediate the work.
However, we may find that you don't have to retake coursework. It may be in your interest to avoid remediation because:
- Your academic record may show that you retook failed coursework
- Remediation may delay your graduation date
- You may not have unlimited remediation opportunities, in which case it is wise to use remediation only as a last resort
If we can enact a grade change or another solution that allows you to avoid remediation, we will.
Alleged Academic Misconduct
By the time a student reaches university, they're expected to understand what is right and what is wrong. If you are pursuing a physician assistant degree (or degrees), there will be little tolerance for any perceived academic misconduct.
Behaviors that typically qualify as academic misconduct include:
- Receiving information about an exam before taking the exam
- Using unauthorized aids during examinations or other coursework
- Sharing information about an exam with others
- Falsifying data
- Plagiarizing
Data from George Washington University suggests that receiving unauthorized information about an upcoming exam is the most common form of academic misconduct among PA students.
How Our Team Will Deal with Allegations of Academic Misconduct Levied Against You
Whether you have been falsely or credibly accused of misconduct as a physician assistant student, you must do everything possible to defend yourself from sanctions. Being branded a cheat could alter the course of your professional and personal lives—even if you've made a mistake, you don't deserve to pay for it in such a severe manner.
The Lento Law Firm's National Education Law Team has defended many medical students accused of academic integrity violations. We generally guide the accused student through their program's adjudication process, which varies from school to school.
At Frostburg State University, as one example, PA students accused of academic dishonesty will:
- First, face an Academic and Professionalism Progress Review Committee
- Then, face the Director of Student Conduct & Community Standards, who will issue a final ruling on the case
Most universities conduct interviews, meetings about informal resolutions, and even hearings when a student is accused of academic misconduct. We will prepare you for and accompany you to any such proceedings that lie ahead.
If you receive an adverse outcome during adjudication proceedings, we can appeal. If the appeal is not successful, we will negotiate directly with your program's Office of General Counsel (OGC), which are the attorneys representing the program.
Though we may not necessarily complete these steps in this same order, we'll utilize every possible pathway to a resolution that suits you.
Clinical Rotation Performance Issues That You May Face as a Physician Assistant Student
Physician assistant students generally complete at least one year of clinical rotations. At Marquette University, clinicals occur during the Summer, Fall, and Spring of PA students' third academic year. You may receive grades for your performance during clinical rotations (as PA students at Marquette do), and these grades may be partially based on:
- Your understanding of medical concepts and practices
- Your application of academic concepts you've learned prior to, and during, your clinical rotations
- Your ability to accurately assess and diagnose medical conditions
- Superiors' perception of your intellectual capabilities as a physician assistant
Professionalism aside, your synthesis and application of PA-specific knowledge will be critical to your success in rotations. If you struggle to prove your knowledge or intellectual fitness, your grades may reflect it.
How the Lento Law Firm Will Help You Move Past Performance Issues During Clinical Rotations
If you experience performance problems during clinicals, we will evaluate the nature of the problem and help find a solution. Perhaps you have been graded unfairly due to a superior's bias, lack of information about your performance, or other unreliable criteria. Or, you could be experiencing personal circumstances that explain unusual underperformance.
We may explore the possibility of appealing performance reviews, securing a brief leave of absence without penalty, or getting you special accommodations. Our firm will explain all the options available to you and pursue a resolution that you are comfortable with.
Clinical Rotation Professionalism Issues
In addition to exhibiting a firm grasp of medical concepts, PA students must also show professionalism during their clinical rotations. PA students at Kansas State University must:
- Show “responsiveness, adaptability, and self-improvement” throughout their rotations
- “Behave in an ethical manner, with honesty and integrity, that inspires trust among patients, students, faculty and staff, and the public.”
- Display teamwork capabilities
- Show good “clinical judgment”
- Show the degree of organization necessary to be a capable physician assistant
While these are logical benchmarks for evaluating PA students, the criteria are not as objective as they may first appear. Determining how “responsive” a PA student is, for example, may not be easy.
Yet, K-State literature notes that unprofessional behavior “will be grounds for withdrawal from the course, or failure of the course.”
How Our Team Will Combat Allegations of Unprofessionalism During Your Clinical Rotations
Each university maintains procedures for addressing professionalism concerns among PA students. As a student, your school should also provide avenues to appeal allegations of unprofessionalism that you believe are unfounded.
At Kansas State, parties fill out Professionalism Concerns Reports (PCRs) when they witness unprofessionalism by a PA student. The program's Progression, Promotion and Professionalism Committee (PPP Committee) handles such reports and ultimately determines the appropriate response to the report(s).
Your program may have similar protocols for handling one or more allegations of unprofessionalism. The Lento Law Firm can help you combat such allegations by:
- Preparing you for any meetings related to alleged unprofessionalism
- Gathering evidence and witness accounts that refute the allegations against you
- Accompanying you during meetings, hearings, and interviews related to an unprofessionalism allegation
- Appealing any adverse rulings against you
- Seeking a resolution with your program's legal counsel, if necessary
Professionalism concerns are, in many cases, far more serious than academic difficulties. It is imperative that we help you avoid any formal indication of unprofessionalism on your official record. Attorney Joseph Lento and his team will work tirelessly to protect your reputation and maintain your goals as a PA.
Didactic Learning Challenges for Physician Assistant Students
For physician assistant students, there is a fine line between didactic learning and academic learning. Boston University (BU) notes that the “didactic phase” of a PA degree is an “interprofessional learning opportunity” involving small-group discussions and case studies.
For many medical students, didactic learning is where purely academic concepts and real-world clinical work meet. In this way, didactics are a sort of transitional stage of a medical education, and it can present newfound challenges to students like you.
Whether or not you receive a grade on didactic coursework, you want to do well. Failing to excel during didactics may:
- Cause you to fall behind on academic study and exam performance
- Prevent you from properly applying your learning in a clinical setting
- Lead to negative perceptions by administrators, who may issue negative evaluations
- Cause you to appear unprepared or unprofessional, when in fact you are simply failing to get the most out of the didactic learning stage
Your didactic coursework may be graded, in which case the consequence of failure is more immediate. Failing didactic coursework could cause the same consequences that academic problems often do—remediation, academic probation, suspension, and dismissal.
How We Can Help with Didactic Learning Issues
The nature of your didactic learning issue will dictate what kind of solution we seek. Potential resolutions include:
- Special accommodations: Didactic learning often occurs in quick-paced formats, including guest lectures, free-form group discussions, and other formats that students may struggle with. If any kind of accommodation might promote your success, we'll lobby for your program to provide it.
- Re-evaluation of your performance: If you believe there has been some mistake in evaluating your didactic performance, we will demand that your program re-evaluate you.
Upon speaking with you and reviewing the details of your case, we may identify other solutions to your problem. As a Nationwide Student Defense Team, we know that there are many different ways to help the students we represent. We will fight for the resolution that solves your unique didactic issue.
Why Hire the Lento Law Firm to Help with Physician Assistant Student Issues?
The Lento Law Firm has made student defense a cornerstone of our legal services. Because we have advocated for students for years, our team:
- Has extensive experience resolving a wide variety of student issues, including those unique to physician assistant students
- Has negotiated resolutions with colleges and universities nationwide, giving us useful familiarity with individual schools and their adjudication processes
- Is more than comfortable negotiating directly with schools' Offices of General Counsel, which often have broad leeway to resolve cases like yours
- Has a personal and professional stake in helping students, as we have seen how young people are often deprived of due process when dealing with their universities
The Lento Law Firm will work to resolve your case as quickly as possible. However, the most important goal is to protect you and your goals as a physician assistant. If we need to take formal legal action to achieve this goal, we will.
Call the Lento Law Firm Today to Get Help with Your Physician Assistant Student Issue
Our team is always available to speak with you. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
